The logical complexity of a program is a measure of the effort required to understand it. We hypothesize that the logical complexity of a program increases with the increase in the opaqueness of the relationship betwe...
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The logical complexity of a program is a measure of the effort required to understand it. We hypothesize that the logical complexity of a program increases with the increase in the opaqueness of the relationship between the physical datastructures used in the program and their corresponding abstract data types. The results of an experiment conducted to investigate this hypothesis are reported. Documentation techniques for making programs easier to understand using complex datastructures are discussed. data structure diagrams, datastructure invariants, stepwise transformation of datastructures, and formal specification of the mapping between abstract and concrete datastructures are illustrated using two nontrivial examples.
A project-independent data model for the entire range of karyological information provides a comprehensive picture of all data items presently used in karyological research and characterizes their logical inter-relati...
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A project-independent data model for the entire range of karyological information provides a comprehensive picture of all data items presently used in karyological research and characterizes their logical inter-relation. It is presented in the form of a hierarchical decomposition of the subject matter down to attribute-level data items. The applied analytical methods are relevant for the structuring of information in other branches of biology. Only sporadic and inconsistent efforts have previously been made to make the huge amount of available karyological information accessible in electronic form. In the view of growing demand for the availability of scientific data on computer networks, further attempts are to be expected presently. The present data model provides a framework for the design of individual databases and ensures compatibility of the resulting datasets.
作者：
NIEMI, TUniversity of Tampere
Department of Mathematical Sciences Computer Science P.O. Box 607 SF-33101 Tampere 10 Finland
Different kinds of data structure diagrams, especially Bachman's, and tabular representations are very often used to visualize hierarchical datastructures. The popularity of these visual modes of representation i...
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Different kinds of data structure diagrams, especially Bachman's, and tabular representations are very often used to visualize hierarchical datastructures. The popularity of these visual modes of representation is due to the possibility they afford of describing datastructures clearly and regardless of any implementation. However, it has been observed in diverse contexts that instead of the visualization we need a general and exact representation containing the same structural components as these visual representations. In this paper we introduce a seven-tuple representation which can be used for exact description of any hierarchical datastructure. We give both the explicit construction operations and the implicit rules which can be utilized in forming any hierarchical datastructure. We show that the formal representation introduced contains the descriptive power of the visualization methods mentioned above. Furthermore we examine how, in the context of this representation, it is possible to define flexibly general analyzing functions for hierarchical datastructures.
Two experiments were carried out to assess the utility of external documentation aids such as macro flowcharts, pseudocode, data structure diagrams, and datastructure descriptions. A 223 line Pascal program which man...
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Two experiments were carried out to assess the utility of external documentation aids such as macro flowcharts, pseudocode, data structure diagrams, and datastructure descriptions. A 223 line Pascal program which manipulates four arrays was used. The program interactively handles commands that allow the user to manage five lists of items. A comprehension test was given to participants along with varying kinds of external documentation. The results indicate that for this program the datastructure information was more helpful than the control flow information, independently of whether textual or graphic formats were used.
The concept of abstract syntax is commonly applied to the formal specification of programming language semantics and is also useful in the broader context of software design. This paper proposes a scheme for the repre...
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The concept of abstract syntax is commonly applied to the formal specification of programming language semantics and is also useful in the broader context of software design. This paper proposes a scheme for the representation of abstract syntax specifications in the form of easily understood charts. The structuring primitives considered are those of scalar enumeration, heterogeneous aggregation, homogeneous lists and sets, disjunction, and partial functions. Secondarily, a related system of charts for depicting particular objects with a given structure is proposed. Examples are given to illustrate the use of these diagrammatic notations in the contexts of language description and software design and documentation.
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